The 'cliff edge’ language on the lifting of the eviction ban is not quite right. It won't happen that way. There will be an increase in possession claims immediately, no doubt, and likely a sustained rise thereafter as redundancies and recession bite, but... 1/3

This will play out in slow motion, over months, as the courts simply won't be able to cope, and even the most ‘urgent' possession claim will take longer. Unless some poor DDJs are assigned permanently to box work on accelerated possession claims, they will be slowed too. 2/3

What we will have is a sustained and building issue, in which many more tenants will be facing possession proceedings, but those proceedings will take longer and longer, as the courts will fail to even tread water. The Govt has, of course, done nothing. 3/3